No love from me. I found it to be really terrible. Specially when McKellen just talked to the audience through the fourth wall in his monologues, which is the most basic ineffective and primitive way to solve it. Not to mention that it feels and looks completely absurd. Then you have the ending, with the hero winking at you ala Superman cartoons and McKellen malevolently laughing while falling to his death... for some reason.

The only good thing IMO: the line"my kingdom for a horse" obtained a new meaning.

I like how over the top and frankly ridiculous it is. Too much Shakespeare-on-film is turgid and overwrought. Behind all the metaphors, the hidden meanings, and the literary genius, Shakespeare was a crowd pleaser and I like that the cast and crew of Richard III just devoured the material.

More random thoughts:

I quite like Branaugh's Hamlet. He also brings a mad energy to Shakespeare that imbues it with such life, and the way he blocks and stages it makes the whole damn thing make sense as cinema, not just a filmed play.

I also really love most of The Merchant of Venice. Pacino is fantastic in one of his best roles. But just like the text, the disparity between the Shylock story and Portia's story makes for a tonally mixed bag (though Lynn Collins is absolutely wonderful as Portia).

Speaking of Pacino, Looking for Richard is a fascinating look at deconstructing a play. It doesn't always work, but that's almost beside the point, as that film is really about how you decode and immerse yourself in a play.

On the other hand, I loathe Romeo + Juliet with a burning passion. I've been mentioning how much I like people that can bring life and energy to Shakespeare, but this is the exception to the rule. This is a loud, overwrought movie populated by actors I like reciting Shakespeare in a mushed-mouthed, high-school production way that makes the writing seem even more opaque. It's one of the most irritating movies I've ever seen.